Ellen DeGeneres Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Coming Out

Ellen DeGeneres is celebrating the 20th anniversary of “The Puppy Episode,” where she came out publicly to the world on her sitcom.

The 59-year-old talk show host reunited the cast, including Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern, on The Ellen Show to celebrate the monumental moment.

“It was called ‘The Puppy Episode’ because we wanted to keep it a secret until it aired and because ‘Ellen Throws Her Career Away’ seemed too on the nose…Actually, the real reason we called it ‘The Puppy Episode’ is ’cause when the writers told the executives that they wanted me to come out because my character needed to be in a relationship after four years of not being in a relationship, someone at the studio said, ‘Well, get her a puppy. She’s not coming out.’ And so, we called it ‘The Puppy Episode,’” Ellen said. “It was the hardest thing that I ever had to do in my life and I would not change one moment of it because it led me to be exactly where I am today – standing in front of all of you, which is a joy. And the fact that all of you and everyone at home is watching me and willing to accept me into your homes every day when no one thought that would ever happen again, it means the world to me.”

“I have to say, just watching the clip, it made me so emotional because of all the things I feel privileged to experience in my life as a human but also as an actor, there’s no greater gift than being the person that was with you and looking in your eyes as you said those words ['I am gay'],” Laura told Ellen during the show. “And when we did rehearse, you even whispered to me at once, ‘Maybe I’m not gonna say it because I haven’t said that out loud.’”